 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bob
Date: 1999-05-25 21:56
Ladies & Gentlemen, First, you are responding to a neophyt who can't spell. I am interested in knowing if there is such a thing as a "C" melody Clarinet. If so, was one made in the Boehm fingering system?? If so, what should I look for to distinguish a "C" from a Bb?? My thanks! in advance.
Bob
thingswelike@monad.net
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Author: Albert
Date: 1999-05-26 05:08
They're not that uncommon today, Mark, if you're talking marketwise. Leblanc and Buffet both make C versions of their pro models that are listed in most catalogs. They cost just about as much an Eb. Maybe they're just uncommon because they're not needed as much. -Albert
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Author: Arnold the basset hornist
Date: 1999-05-26 14:31
In klezmer music there's often used a C clarinet to 'play the melody / 1st voice' I heard. Perhaps "Melody Clarinet" just means the "musical function" of the clarinet pitched in C.
One german clarinet manufacturer choosed the name "Melody" for his "simple series" - I do not think you thought of this.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 1999-05-26 14:36
Now and again one appears on EBAY-clarinet. My old Conn plastic plays well for me when I play [and wish to sound more like -] an oboe part. Some classics nearly require a C, such as the Moldau and Elijah in my experience. You can readily distinguish one by length comparison with a Bb , about 1 inch shorter overall.
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Author: SeAn
Date: 1999-05-27 05:36
I hear of the C melody Saxophone(is that what you call it?)... a type of straight tenor saxophone.
anyone with news abt the Buffet's student-line C clarinet???
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 1999-05-27 16:40
They date back to the early 1900's, and were probably used mainly for reading piano music [without transposition] in dance bands and theater [silent pic's] groups. All I have seen are curved like the tenors, some early altos were straight [too long!]. If interested look at EBAY-saxophone and/or Cybersax.com and other sax sites. Don
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Author: Denis
Date: 1999-05-28 13:09
Just found on SaxFiend's web page http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Bayou/2048/ :
The saxophone was patented in 1846 by Brussels-born clarinetist and inventor Adolphe Sax. His original horn was a bass saxophone in C. Made of brass; but with a mouthpiece like a clarinet and a pattern of fingering quite similar to that of the oboe. This hybrid instrument was intended to increase the volume and impact of the lower woodwinds; which at the time were rather weak. After it's agility and expressiveness were discovered, an entire family (14 to be exact.) was comprised; from sopranino to contrabass; in two families. The band family pitched alternatingly in Eb and Bb; and the orchestral family
pitched alternatingly in F and C. The orchestral family was all but abandoned; as the tone of the saxophone did not blend well in that ensemble. The only surviving member of the orchestral family being the C-melody, or tenor in C. The saxophones that are still commonly seen are the Bb soprano, Eb alto, Bb tenor, Eb baritone (or bari for short), and the massive four-and -a-half foot tall BBb bass sax. Other, rarer, sizes are the tiny Eb sopranino and the gargantuan 6'8'' EEb contrabass. Rumors have swirled about as to the existence of a Sub-contrabass saxophone in BBBb; but there has been no proof to support or debunk these claims.
Denis
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 1999-05-28 14:56
Thank you, Denis, I just copied off the history. I believe nearly every book on clar's tells of Sax's work with Albert and others to adapt Boehm's ring-key concept to our chosen inst, thanks to their work we can play easily! Don
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Author: Joe Levine
Date: 1999-05-30 14:48
I'm most familiar with the phrase "C Melody" in relation to a saxophone rather than a clarinet. (C Melody saxophones used to be a popular dance band insturment.) I was fortunate to find an old C clarinet in a small shop in Jakarta in the mid 70s. When purchased it looked miserable after spending years in the humid shop. After it got cleaned up it turned out to be in excellent condition. It's a very early Albert system, 11 keys, produced in Leipzig by Julius Heinrich Zimmermann - probably in late 1800s. It's somewhere between an Eb and Bb in size. It plays great but I'm just too much of a Boehm system player to ever get very far with an Albert system clarinet!
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